


A Fresh Start

by reeby10



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Community: rarepair_shorts, First Meetings, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-03 23:46:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15829389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/pseuds/reeby10
Summary: Graves goes to apologize for Grindelwald using his face, and gets the shock of his life when he meets Credence.





	A Fresh Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SeraphinaVictus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeraphinaVictus/gifts).



> Originally posted [here](https://rarepair-shorts.livejournal.com/643536.html) for rarepair_shorts' wishlist event 2018.
> 
> Thanks to Biff for the beta.

Graves knew he didn’t have any responsibility for what had happened — it hadn’t been him, after all, just a man wearing his face. But he still felt responsible, and the very least he could do was offer the boy an apology. Perhaps it would assuage his guilt, if even just a little.

The apartment for the address Seraphina had given him was not the nicest place MACUSA could have put the boy, but from what Graves had heard, it was probably immeasurably nicer than where he’d grown up. It had been shocking to learn what kind of terrible environment a magical child had been subjected to with the Second Salemers. He almost hadn’t been surprised the boy had become an obscurial after that, despite how they’d all thought it was impossible in this day and age.

Shaking his head at the folly, Graves raised a hand and knocked on the apartment door. There was a shuffling sound, then the door opened ever so slowly as a boy peered through the gap. It was wrenched open completely just a second later, and Graves had a trembling wand pointed at his face.

“Good evening,” Graves said politely, deciding to ignore the wand for now. He wasn’t sure if the boy — Credence, he remembered — even knew how to do anything with it yet, though he’d honestly rather not find out in these circumstances.

“You’re supposed to be gone,” Credence said, his voice breaking just a little. There was something haunted in his eyes that made Graves’ heart clench painfully. “You’re supposed to be _gone_.”

“I’m not him,” Graves replied. He really should have thought more carefully about this, he realized. It was a good thing he was rather good when put on the spot. “I’m the real Graves, the original one, and I’ve come to apologize for what Grindelwald did with my face and my name.”

Credence seemed at a loss, his wand slowly drifting down until it rested by his side, though he still held it in a white knuckled grip. “You’ve come to apologize?”

“I have. I’m sorry such terrible things happened to you because of him.” And he was, even more so than when he first decided to come here. Seeing Credence face to face was something quite different than reading about him in reports. “I can’t do anything about that now. But I would like it if you would allow us a fresh start.”

He put his hand out and waited as Credence eyed it, still with some small level of suspicion. Finally Credence reached out to shake his hand. As soon as their hands touched, it was like a surge of energy — of magic — passed between them. Warmth emanated from every inch of skin that met, travelling up to settle comfortably in Graves’ heart. He could feel an echo of Credence there, like he’d been there all along but Graves hadn’t quite known.

“Well,” Graves said, at a complete loss.

This boy, Credence, was his _soulmate_. He’d gone so long without that he’d honestly never thought to find his, and he certainly never would have thought it would be under these circumstances. It was highly unusual in the wizarding world to be so old without meeting your soulmate, though it made sense now that he knew his was so much younger than he. And to think, Grindelwald had almost destroyed the possibility of them ever finding one another.

“What was that?” Credence asked, eyes wide as he looked at their still clasped hands. “Did you do some magic on me?”

Graves shook his head. “It means we’re soulmates,” he replied, then paused, brows furrowing as he tried to remember his No-Maj Studies lessons from long ago. “Do they have those in the… non-magical world?”

Credence shook his head slowly, then raised his eyes to meet Graves’. They were still wide and filled with fear, but now Graves could feel a cautious excitement as well. Credence might not entirely understand what was happening between them, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel the importance of it through their connection.

“Would you like to have dinner with me? Now?” Graves asked, tension he hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying bleeding away just a bit when Credence nodded, a small, cautious smile growing on his lips. “I can tell you about soulmates. And more, if you’d like.”

Credence followed along easily as Graves led the way to his favorite magical restaurant, one where they’d be guaranteed a spot of privacy. Which would be quite important, he knew, because there was apparently a lot he’d need to teach Credence about this world he’d so recently entered.

It wasn’t until they sat at their table that he realized neither of them had released their joined hands. Their fingers were intertwined now, holding hands rather than just the handshake that had started this. It was perhaps a little bold for public, especially since some of the other restaurant goers would no doubt recognize one or both of them from the papers the past few months. Likely, they’d end up there again after this.

But seeing the smile still on Credence’s face, Graves decided he didn’t mind a bit.


End file.
